What will change for renters and landlords under the new rules?
Landlords will still be able to evict tenants in certain circumstances under the new legislation, but will now not be able to sell or move into a property in the 12 months after the beginning of a tenancy.
Rent can now only be increased to “the market rate” and landlords are required to give two months’ notice of a raise, while tenants can challenge that decision at a first-tier tribunal if they think the new amount is too much.
Matthew Arena of The Brilliant Group told MI that cracking down on unscrupulous landlords was the right move but questioned how the legislation would work in practice.
“The push to strengthen tenant rights and take on rogue landlords is absolutely the right direction of travel, but as ever the detail is messy and there are clear unintended consequences on both sides,” he said.
“For example, tenants will face limits on what can be paid up front which will impact some. For landlords, we [still have to] find out how the system will deal with non-paying tenants in practice, rather than in theory.”